Okay, so it's not exactly my first piercing, I've had my ears stretched to an inch for a few years now and then there was that time I got out a sewing needle (bad idea so don't try it) and punctured the skin below my lips creating a "labret". A very crooked one at that. It has since been removed. Therefore my navel surface piercing is the first professional job I've had done.
At A Glance Author cortney Contact girlfixer58@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Paco Studio Hot Rod Body Piercing Company Location Pittsburgh So the idea came to me kind of last minute, actually the day before I got it done. I'd been contemplating getting an anti-eyebrow done but I wouldn't be able to do it for at least another month or so. Then I thought, hey what about a surface piercing down by the navel! Yes, good idea. I had witnessed a friend of mine get hers done a while ago and I recall thinking it looked really nice, not too painful, and that I would one day get it done myself.
So here I was driving two and a half hours home from a college orientation/visiting family and I had already decided to make the stop in Pittsburgh's South Side to finish my day off with the piercing. There was no doubt that I wanted to get it done at Hot Rod, I've been buying my ear jewelry off of them for years now and I've seen them do great work (such as the friend mentioned above). I had the cash ready from graduation; it's not exactly an inexpensive piercing, but I've spent more on stones for my ears so in a way it did seem kind of cheap.
I won't lie, I did get kind of nervous thinking about it, but it wasn't about if it would hurt or not, I was more concerned about it rejecting or being insanely crooked after being so excited about it. But I asked my friend to meet me there, which she did.
When I got there it was kind of late, but they weren't busy or anything so I talked to the piercer about the whole deal and I looked at a few pictures of his past work (which all looked very nice), he'd done a bunch of surface navels so I wasn't too worried about that. Actually I wasn't worried about anything at this point because they are very friendly people that work there and made me feel very comfortable.
While I was starting to fill out the papers some girls walked in, one wanting her tongue pierced so I told them to go ahead before me, I was still waiting for my friend to get there. While he took her back to get pierced, another friendly guy helped me out with the paperwork and explained all of the cleaning rituals etc. Such a friendly bunch that works there, if you're ever in the Pittsburgh area I would recommend them over anyone else. While waiting, I habitually checked out all of their larger plugs wishing I had an endless supply of money so I could just buy the whole counter and be plug happy for the rest of my life. Then my friend got there (I haven't seen her in months!). We chatted and then it was my turn to get the needle shoved through me! Hooray! Not being sarcastic either I was really excited! So I got back to the little room, actually it was a pretty spacious room which added to the comfort. Everything looked super clean as always, my friend came back with us and we continued to talk about my goldfish that each had one of their eyeballs eaten out and so on.
So he had me stand with my back against the wall, feet together, so he could make sure to measure everything evenly and get it in the right place. Just so you're following, it's about ¾ of an inch below my belly button, horizontal surface piercing. He explained that the type of jewelry they used helped decrease the chances of rejection. The shape of the bar was kind of like a staple, a straight bar with both ends bent to a certain degree and he said he was going to use to longest bar they pierced with. Looking at it now I'm guessing is around an inch or so. I asked him what gauge he was going to use and he said how he would pierce it with a 12 then the jewelry would be a 14. Fine by me.
So after he was done marking up my midriff I took a seat on the chair, he lowered the back so I was laying down on it. By the time he had the clamps on I finally asked my friend sitting in the corner if it hurt. She kinda made a face then shook her head and said, "Yeah...yeah it does hurt". Well then, the piercer said he wouldn't stick the needle in me until I took a deep breath and that I should keep breathing then he would take out the needle and slide the jewelry in. Easy enough. Then he added that he might have to walk around to the other side of the chair because his shortness prevented him from reaching the other side. I thought, eh a few more seconds couldn't be that bad. So after the clamp was ready and secure, he told me "okay now breathe...take a deep breathe"...then I felt it.
Besides the fact I barely had time to embrace the security of a deep breathe he was already shoving that needle through the skin which was the craziest feeling I've ever felt. It hurt. It wasn't quick. It definitely felt like something was burrowing into my stomach and getting sucked out of the other side. Though as he walked to the other side of the chair he apologized about doing it so slow, he justified by saying he wanted it to be perfect. Soon enough he was pulling the needle out and putting the jewelry in. This didn't hurt quite as bad, but that was it! He commented by saying it fit perfectly snug! Woo! He screwed on the end balls and I looked down to see two cute little silver balls on top of my stomach. It was a good sight!
I asked if I could sit up yet, even though I didn't really want to it was kind of sore and I was expecting blood to start gushing out as soon as I tried to bend my body. He said I could look at it in the mirror and asked if I wanted a bandage to help protect it. That sounded like a good idea so I said sure put the bandage on. I was expecting a gauze or something but no it looked like a piece of tape. He warned me it would look like old peoples skin when he stuck it on me, which it did. Which isn't the bad part, as I finally stood up I looked in the mirror to check out this amazingly awesome little pierced piece of skin wouldn't you know it, CROOKED. Not even a little bit. Incredibly crooked. The right ball was noticeably higher than the left. I didn't say anything though because he was so satisfied. But I thanked him and the other friendly man and left. (Didn't know if he expected to be tipped or not?) I checked it out more closely, as did the good friend that accompanied me, and yes indeed it was way off. This seemed impossible that it would be so messed up and I couldn't get over it as she kept telling me, it'll even out when the swelling goes down! Comforting, but not assuring.
So as expected the bandage tape filled up with blood at one point while I was at home. At this point I decided to take a shower to get the bandage off. There was a little bit of trouble getting it off, he told me once it got wet it would just fall off, but I had to gently peel it off. Then the blood really started flowing. Luckily it was in the shower. When it was done the remaining blood turned kind of jelly-like and stuck to the balls. I looked at it once more in the mirror when I got out of the shower and amazingly enough it was STRAIGHT! Apparently when he put the tape on he pushed the one side up a little. Amazing, I'm so happy. It really looks great and no regrets! So I let it dry up and get crusty over night while I slept.
I cleaned it all off this morning (day after) and was surprised to find no bruising or redness! Though as the day is going on it's getting a little red and it still hurts to bend certain ways. No signs of rejection yet though, hooray!
For anyone considering this piercing: Yes, it hurt. Yes, it is worth it.